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Social Welfare

At the community level, a Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project encourages care and love for elderly people and reaches out to those who are unfamiliar with the existing network of community support. From 2014 to 2016, 86 district projects are being carried out to encourage elderly people to take part in community activities and enhance neighbourhood support networks.

Women's Commission

The Women's Commission promotes the well-being and interests of women in Hong Kong. It advises the government on policies related to women to ensure that women's perspectives are taken into account in formulating government policies.

The commission is chaired by a non-official and has 24 members. Through the provision of an enabling environment, empowerment of women, and public education, it aims to enable women to fully realise their due status, rights and opportunities in all aspects of life.

The commission helps the government introduce gender mainstreaming to provide an enabling environment. It adopts a Gender Mainstreaming Checklist to help government staff take a systematic approach in assessing the needs and perspectives of both genders when formulating government policies. On the recommendation of the commission, all bureaus and departments are required with effect from April 2015 to refer to the checklist and apply gender mainstreaming to formulating major government policies and initiatives. The appointment benchmark of women to government advisory and statutory bodies has also been raised from 30 per cent to 35 per cent.

Gender-related training has been provided to more than 9,000 government employees since 2001. All bureaus and departments have their own Gender Focal Points, through which matters concerning gender mainstreaming can be channelled.

The commission's initiatives to help women realise their potential include a Capacity Building Mileage Programme, which is aimed at enhancing their self-confidence, learning abilities and life skills. The programme is carried out in collaboration with the Open University of Hong Kong, a radio station and more than 80 women's groups and NGOs. By the end of 2015, the number of enrolments had exceeded 84,000, in addition to the large audience reached through relevant radio programmes.

A Funding Scheme for Women's Development provides annual funding of about $2 million for women's groups and NGOs offering women's services to organise relevant programmes and activities at regional and district levels.

Rehabilitation Advisory Committee

The Rehabilitation Advisory Committee is the principal advisory body to the government on the well-being of persons with disabilities and on the development and implementation of rehabilitation policies and services. Its sub-committees look into specific areas of concern, such as access, employment and public education.

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